"In recent weeks we have been experiencing a very strong pressure on the part of the Bank of England with regard to our bank VTB Capital plc. This is the only Russan bank with a full license. Attempts are being made to place demands on us, the demands that are incompatible with the regular supervision practice," Kostin pointed out in an interview published in the newspaper Izvestia on Thursday. "We applied to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (CBR) a request to render assistance in talks with the Bank of England, because those demands do not conform to a professional approach. They contain, rather, a large share of political motivation. All verifications testified to the fact that the bank is reliable and stable and does not bring about problems for the UK financial sector".

The chief of the VTB Group sets hope on the possibility to prove that "this kind of actions with regard to the Russian bank in the UK in not quite compatible with international norms of supervision".

In response to a question whether VTB plans to seek Russian government's protection, Kostin said, "We are operating in the territory of another state and in line with UK law which we do not break. I consider that talks through the CBR will be most effective".